# Definitions of 'puros' and 'vitola'?



## krisko (Jul 28, 2007)

I think 'vitola' means a cigar made with tobaccos from the same area. For instance a cuban cigar would be a vitola...am I right? What exactly is a 'puro'?


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## Corona Gigante-cl (Sep 8, 2005)

krisko said:


> I think 'vitola' means a cigar made with tobaccos from the same area. For instance a cuban cigar would be a vitola...am I right? What exactly is a 'puro'?


A _puro _is a cigar whose wrapper, binder, and filler leaf all come from the same country.

A _vitola _is a shape, for instance robusto, torpedo, etc.


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## Don Fernando (Jan 1, 2000)

Lets see how badly I crucify this .... someone correct me if I am wrong, but ...

Puros = all the tobacco in the cigar is from one region. ie: Dominican Puros would mean that all the 'baccy used in the manufacture is from the Dominican.

Vitola = the size and shape of a cigar. ie: Robusto, perfecto and churchill are all vitolas.

There's probably something I am missing .. and I hope someone will point that out if so.


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## brownbuffalo (Apr 11, 2007)

As a native Spanish speaker, I have never known a definition more detailed for "puro," than simply "cigar." I'm not disagreeing with the other folks, I had just never heard specifics. For example, cigarette is "cigarro," while cigar is "puro." Just my :2


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## Budprince (Mar 29, 2007)

monsoon said:


> Lets see how badly I crucify this .... someone correct me if I am wrong, but ...
> 
> Puros = all the tobacco in the cigar is from one region. ie: Dominican Puros would mean that all the 'baccy used in the manufacture is from the Dominican.
> 
> ...


:tpd: I've read and heard the same things.


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## The Professor (Jul 20, 2006)

brownbuffalo said:


> As a native Spanish speaker, I have never known a definition more detailed for "puro," than simply "cigar." I'm not disagreeing with the other folks, I had just never heard specifics. For example, cigarette is "cigarro," while cigar is "puro." Just my :2


Well ... that may be true; but in the cigar industry, the terms are jargon with definitions as provided by CG and monsoon, above.


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## croatan (Mar 23, 2005)

brownbuffalo said:


> As a native Spanish speaker, I have never known a definition more detailed for "puro," than simply "cigar." I'm not disagreeing with the other folks, I had just never heard specifics. For example, cigarette is "cigarro," while cigar is "puro." Just my :2


That's true. And Cuban cigars can be more particularly described "puros Habanos".


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## SmokeyJoe (Oct 3, 2006)

And once again the pursuit of truth is satisfied by the collected wisdom of the compendium of knowledge that is *Club Stogie*! Man, I LOVE this place... :ss :tu


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## Addiction (May 8, 2007)

I was just thinking about this last night, thanks for the insightful post.


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## brownbuffalo (Apr 11, 2007)

SmokeyJoe said:


> And once again the pursuit of truth is satisfied by the collected wisdom of the compendium of knowledge that is *Club Stogie*! Man, I LOVE this place... :ss :tu


And how!:tu


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## yourchoice (Jun 25, 2006)

I've noticed vitola used more specifically with Cubans, whereas non Cubans are often referred to as "size". Is this just something I'm imagining, or is there something to it?


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## Glacierman (Nov 16, 2006)

yourchoice said:


> I've noticed vitola used more specifically with Cubans, whereas non Cubans are often referred to as "size". Is this just something I'm imagining, or is there something to it?


Yes, indeed. The vitola names are used to designate certain standard sizes. For example, the vitola named "Julieta" is 7 x 48. Outside of Cuba, we have "sizes", and a Julieta is a Churchill in NC jargon, and the term "vitola" is often used to simply mean "cigar."

But, the term "Churchill" applies to cigars w/in a range (as do robusto, toro, etc.) and not to one, single, specific size. Thus, 7 x48 and 7 x 50 are both Churchills.

Then you have the term "frontmark" which is the manufacturer's name, i. e., the Don Pepin Black 1977 (the frontmark) is a lancero (shape/vitola) although some call a lancero a corona especiale.

Hope this helps and I rely on others more knowledgeable to correct if/where I might be wrong.

Cheers!


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## jloutlaw (Feb 22, 2007)

brownbuffalo said:


> As a native Spanish speaker, I have never known a definition more detailed for "puro," than simply "cigar." I'm not disagreeing with the other folks, I had just never heard specifics. For example, cigarette is "cigarro," while cigar is "puro." Just my :2


I don't speak Spanish, but while in Guatemala in February if you wanted a cigar you asked for a puro.

Puro means tobacco from one region or country on the forums and cigar descriptions.


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## cricky101 (Jan 22, 2007)

krisko said:


> I think 'vitola' means a cigar made with tobaccos from the same area. For instance a cuban cigar would be a vitola...am I right? What exactly is a 'puro'?


Be sure to check out the CS glossary too. There are definitions for a lot of words associated with cigar jargon, and some of the acronyms, too. There's a link to it on the yellow bar across the top of the page. :tu


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## Glacierman (Nov 16, 2006)

jloutlaw said:


> I don't speak Spanish, but while in Guatemala in February if you wanted a cigar you asked for a puro.
> 
> Puro means tobacco from one region or country on the forums and cigar descriptions.


_Puro_ has many meanings, depending on how it is used. In common parlance (everyday usage) in Spanish-speaking countries, a cigar is called a puro. However, it has a technical meaning within the cigar industry, where it specifically means a cigar made from tobacco from a single country, thereby a "pure" cigar (puro is Spanish for pure). Since in most Latin American countries, cigars made for local consumption are made with locally grown leaf and not imported tobacco, they are automatically a puro and the term thereby has come to mean simply "cigar" in those areas. The more technical application is found w/in the export cigar business.

DPG cigars are Nicaraguan puros (uses all Nica tobacco). He does use some other stuff on occasion, but those are on cigars he makes for others, not his own.


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## woops (Aug 5, 2007)

krisko said:


> I think 'vitola' means a cigar made with tobaccos from the same area. For instance a cuban cigar would be a vitola...am I right? What exactly is a 'puro'?


Good post krisko. I was wondering about the 'vitola' also.


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## Cheo Malanga (Apr 4, 2006)

It is actually a little complex.

Puro is Spanish for pure, but in many places it is used to mean cigar. This probably originated from Cuban cigars saying they were "Puros Habanos" and the term stuck. So when the term puro is used in the cigar industry, by an English speaking person, they usually mean a cigar made w/ tobaccos from one region. 

Vitola is more of a mess. This word has meant a million different things over the years. Funny thing is nobody knows where it comes from. In Spain they called the cigar ring a vitola. Guillermo Cabrera Infante in his book "Holy Smoke" quotes old lilterature in which it is used to mean the epitome of a good cigar. IE, an ISOM Monte #2 is a vitola. Nowadays it is mostly used to refer to a shape.


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## FriendlyFire (Jun 11, 2007)

Uro = Pure , I think


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## DBall (Jun 4, 2007)

Glacierman said:


> Then you have the term "frontmark" which is the manufacturer's name, i. e., the Don Pepin Black 1977 (the frontmark) is a lancero (shape/vitola) although some call a lancero a corona especiale.


This, in reference to cuban cigars, is also called the "marca". (I love all the info I've found on these BBs.)

Bolivar (marca) Petite Corona (vitola).

(disclaimer... based on reading I've done, I believe the above to be a correct statement)

:tu


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## langos (Mar 1, 2011)

puro = made of one region or country. or cigar. 

vitola = format / size .. There are two types of vitola. parejos and figurados. ... parejos are strait and figurados are not.


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## Ming on Mongo (May 15, 2015)

Vitola literally translates as 'band' in Spanish, and in Cuba refers to the size, but also the shape and overall type of cigar(s) that a particular factory produces. Supposedly the word 'vitola' originated with shipbuilding lingo in the New World, where it once referred to the 'model' or 'template' for measuring the different parts of a ship's construction in naval architecture&#8230; the keel, hull shape, masts, etc. and even calibrating bullet sizes for the armory.

But more 'colloquially", I understand it to also capture the 'individuality' and 'essence' of a specific cigar in the broader sense&#8230; including the 'image', tobaccos used, construction, 'attitude', overall quality, etc.. So for example Winston Churchill's ostentatious Havanas have been described as capturing the vitola of "Empire".

Cuban Sugar and Tobacco


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## langos (Mar 1, 2011)

That can not be argued. as for as how we use it here as US estanqueros, right? check it..

Tobacconist University | Tobacco College | Cigar Shapes & Sizes

see what I mean?


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## Shemp75 (May 26, 2012)

langos said:


> puro = made of one region or country. or cigar.
> 
> vitola = format / size .. There are two types of vitola. parejos and figurados. ... parejos are strait and figurados are not.


Thanks for digging up a 8 year old thread to repeat the answer that was indeed answered 8 years ago.


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## langos (Mar 1, 2011)

my bad. let me go re-read this thread.


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## langos (Mar 1, 2011)

monsoon said:


> Vitola = the size and shape of a cigar. ie: Robusto, perfecto and churchill are all vitolas.


ok... I think I have, know I have a reading problem so, maybe I just had to wright It so I can understand it or something. It's just easy to say two types. strait and not strait.


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## Ming on Mongo (May 15, 2015)

langos said:


> That can not be argued. as for as how we use it here, right? check it..
> 
> Tobacconist University | Tobacco College | Cigar Shapes & Sizes


Hey, whaddaya mean "we" Kimosabe?! :mrgreen:

Agreed, and you're correct in the strictest sense, it's the basic shape and size of the cigar. Although even then, in Cuba, a brand such as Montecristo may have two different vitola names for a cigar, one for the factory (vitola de galera) and another for the marketplace (vitola de salida).

But as I mentioned, it's worth noting that the term is also being increasingly used these days in a "broader" sense by cigar reviewers (and as a measure of cigars influence it even appears in 'cultural' commentaries, etc.), as a way of describing the 'unique' description of a particular cigar (or even unique personalities) that _includes_ the size & shape, but really carries a larger 'meaning' than just the 'dimensions'. For example many one-of-a-kind 'vitolas' have emerged that have become virtually synonymous with the 'brand' (Nub, Arturo Fuente Anejo Sand Shark, Paul Stulac No Dress Code Vitola Torpedo, etc.)&#8230; not unlike the way that "Xerox" has now come to be used, which also helps explain part of the 'confusion'.


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## Doc Rock (Dec 26, 2006)

Let me add two more (my personal opinion, YMMV):

Puro Oro: any vitola carrying the label Fuente Anejo or Fuente Fuente Opus X; :clap2:

Puro Mierda: many vitolas I've smoked that are made from tobacco entirely from one country, but not carrying the label Fuente Anejo or Fuente Fuente Opus X. :frusty:


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## langos (Mar 1, 2011)

What would you call this?


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## Ming on Mongo (May 15, 2015)

LOL! Dunno, but I could probably think of some colorful "vitolas". What would you call it, a Culebra?

Although let's try something a little more 'common'… for example, how many times have you heard a Nub (or Nub clone) described instead as a "460 vitola"?


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## langos (Mar 1, 2011)

well,.. a Culebra alone might have 4 cigars in it but, open on both sides i think for the most part. They'll usually say closed culebra? Definitely a figurado vitola, it has a belicoso head and a foot like an Opus X head? Culebricoso?


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## Ming on Mongo (May 15, 2015)

Understood. So would all sizes still be considered more or less be the same "vitola"?


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## langos (Mar 1, 2011)

all sizes still be considered more or less be the same? not the same. I can't understand that. two types of vitola. parejos and figurados.


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## Ming on Mongo (May 15, 2015)

I get that parejos and figurados are the 'shapes', but isn't there also a 'size' part for that "vitola" (according to the definition)? Or are you saying that "vitola" sometimes just describes the shape alone?


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## Doc Rock (Dec 26, 2006)

langos said:


> What would you call this?
> 
> View attachment 52850


Mamada Grande


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## langos (Mar 1, 2011)

well, both... parejos are straight and, figurados are not straight and, they both have a size. ie; a 5 X 50 parejo, most commonly none as a Robusto, would be the vitola.

Let say I asked what vitolas do Nicks Stick come in? you might say, 3 parejos, and 1 figurado. A 5x50 robusto, a 6x50 toro 7x50 churchill and a 5.5x52 torpedo.

So vitola is like a descriptive heading and size is another descriptive heading. A vitola has shape and size. Like The Chisel® is also a vitola.


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